July 19...

Good morning. I think I slept the best I have slept in weeks last night. I am bracing myself for an eight mile run this morning...God I love tapers. Yesterday, Saturday, I went to Ape Caves with Tyler, Jesse, and a bunch of Jesse's relatives. It was different than I imagined (the caves, not the relatives). One tunnel was about a mile and a quarter long and was very dark duh) and had all kinds of lava boulders you had to climb over. I worried I'd hurt my foot or leg...but it was fine. I did get car sick on the way there though...but not as bad as the water slides at Great Wolf Lodge.

When we got home, Tyler, Jesse, Kim, and Jason wanted to go to Plaza Jalisco for dinner but it was almost seven!! I first said no, but then thought it Saturday night in the summer for gosh sake and I am not an old woman...so I went. However, I won't tell you I was good company. I practically fell asleep in my plate. Tyler took bets on how fast I'd be asleep on the way home.

Yikes, I have running camp tomorrow!! That's an early morning get-up. Oh, and I have been forsaken in my running. First my "stretching friend" from camp (I still don't know his name or even if he is associated with the running camp, but he sure makes my hip feel amazing) won't be there this week. Oh no! Who will stretch my hip??? Eadie! And my on-line training friend is incommunicado fishing in Canada. However, Devin Sume texted me a "good luck" last night and it meant the world to me as I feel pretty overwhelmed right now.

Gotta run...literally.

Ape Caves-Saturday July 18

We went to Ape Caves today. I am sure anyone helping me get ready for next week's marathon would appreciate me walking in the dark, dank caves on lava piles.





Me, finally here and car-sick.

Tyler and Jess...

Walking back to the car for the twisty-turning ride back...gag.

So, What Have I Given Up for the Marathon?

I haven't kept up with routine car repairs or maintenance...
(And the Prius touts itself as "green").

Trees and landscape have been pretty much ignored...My motto is "if it's green it's grass; if it's not it's a flower; if it's dead it's low maintenance."

... I have fallen behind with home maintenance projects.

But hey, I'm ready for my marathon!

Running Route: Six Mile Route

Welcome to my six mile

route with me! It's July 16, 85 degrees, and I am exhausted from work at "running camp". This is the Cowlitz River Bridge at the beginning and end of the run.

Way in the back are the most adorable ponies. There is a decaying deer though near the fence in front of me that reeks. Ponies don't like to get too close to fence and I don't like to stand around with the flies and stench. Soon, though, I will get a closer photo: deer is almost "gone".

These are fancy cows on the 25 road flats. I notice they don't have pooh all over them like the black and white dairy cows up the road. That's a good thing.

Two miles into the run, give or take, you take the Spears Road. Take a left at the horses. They ignore me.

That's Mt. Rainier as seen from the Spears Road. I like the Spears Road: it's shady, quiet, and a nice place to be if you are "caught short" as they say in Lord of the Flies.

This is mile 3.5 or so. Way across the field is the 25 road where we started. Damn it's hot.

Looking back at mile four (or so) is Mt. Adams. You people are really slowing me down today.

This is "Donkey". If he were mine he'd have a nice name. He ignored me today so the photo is not a great one. I want to steal him; but his owner, Carrie is on to my plot. Donkey lives at the one or five mile mark depending on which way I take the loop. I always say hello.

Summer Renaissance

Welcome to my afternoon runs at White Pass.

Eadie and I put the camera on the table to take this one. I can not be grateful enough for my amazing life.

Here where two trails are connected by a steep, rocky, trail I tried going for the Leonardo Dicaprio "King of the World" pose, but the table started to slide on the (unforgiving) rocks and I look more like Frankie Avalon in a beach movie.

There is a steep trail on loose rock that connects "Dark Meadow" with some loop below. Eadie and I met up here at this picnic table. She is such a trooper: I made fun of her shoes two years ago when we did this that she borrowed some from her daughter Jill. Now she has blisters. What a wonderful boss/friend/trail partner.

Here's another part of the Dark Meadow loop. I think one of my lungs is on the "connector trail" that comes up from the lodge. During the winter, this is the cross country ski area where we skate ski.

This is part of the trail at "Dark Meadow". :) It's a 1.5 mile loop I do twice. I run in Heaven.

After work, at 2, Eadie walks and I run around the cross country ski trails. I can not believe I get paid to work with people I would choose to spend time with in this amazing part of the country.

Terry Stark and I work in the cafe in the bar during the ski season. The mood is different in the summer: fewer adults and no alcohol. But Terry is Terry and that's all that counts.

Sorting hot silverware is one of my least favorite jobs during running camp. I'd love to say I am stoic, but I am not; just ask Rusty. Looking at the bright side, if I turn to a life of crime, my finger prints will be melted off. Oh, and the unsightly bulge in my hip is not my unsightly hip, but an ice pack. I have bursitis in my hip and it's only a week and a half till the San Francisco marathon...Yikes! However the universe provides. One ofthe coaches at running camp is a stretching guru and helps me stretch the IT band...it helps my hip a lot even if it does require rolling around on the floor of the lodge with a complete stranger.

This is our morning "smoke break". After we get breakfast prepped and before the kids show up, we take a break. Eadie and I don't smoke, but we'd hate to miss a break. Now that the director of running camp showed Eadie how to stretch my hip, we'll do that while Terry smokes.

July 14. Now I am working at Running Camp at White Pass. Eadie and Terry are trying to light pilot lights. I just asked them not to blow us up. We get to the Pass at 5:30 each morning.

This was my favorite entry in the Gay Pride Parade: the Rat City rat. Because I grew up painfully close to White Center (Rat City), this was the cutest thing ever. And he was fully dressed.

Nothing says fun like a Gay Pride Parade. Actually, I was a bit taken aback. Gay or straight, some people should not be naked in public...Robby asked me to go to the parade with him. It was the world's longest parade...it's probably still going on.

This is one of the Discovery Team crews. I am a substitute crew leader and this was training day. We hiked! Regretted my 10 mile run before work when I had to do two, two-mile goat trail loops with different teams. This was a fun day of discovery team. A day I actually worked, one kid and I spent an 90 degree day on a side hill in the sun wrestling with Scotch broom ( a noxious weed).

This is my new bike! A Specialized "Dolche" which means "more than you can afford" or else "dessert" I think in Italian. As spring began, I started running a lot. Then I would ride my old (but much loved) bike on the 30 mile loop (I'll take you on a photo ride with me one day) with Cheeseman and soon realized I had only two gears!!! Yikes (though the word I said was much harsher and started with an "f"). I needed a new bike. So, being the prudent shopper, I found all the bike shops in Olympia, open on Sunday, and could let me walk out that day with the bike of my dreams. I love my bike.

Summer 2009 made it! If you would have told me six months ago winter would end, I would have been skeptical at best. But I had a rennaisance of sorts when I returned from Florida. I went back to working weekends at White Pass, lost weight, and got back into exercising starting with skate skiing!! Working at the Pass, skating before work, and being with fun people got me jump started for spring.

Bobbi and Berkeley's Nomadic Weekend

Don't let them fool you; they are hooligans. Mason and Tucker finally resting.

This is my newest Grand-dog, Mason.

Friday afternoon I saw that the WSDOT web page said Hwy 7 was open! I could escape! I gathered some clothes, Berkeley's leash, and called Teena and Tyler and left messages I was on my way to town and would be staying with one of them! I ended up staying Friday night with Mark and Teena in Tacoma, and Saturday night I stayed with Jessie and Tyler in Olympia/Lacey/Yelm. It was wonderful!!!! Berkeley was thinking we were homeless.

On the one mile up the hill hike on the way back to the house this afternoon, several thoughts crossed my mind: How nice everyone was to take us in this week; how loyal Berks has been; and how I wished I had bought fewer apples and oranges.

When I got home, I called Direct-TV to tell them about my dish problem and remind them that I am a loyal customer in good standing, and that I could "bundle and save" if I were to switch providers. He agreed to send a technician out on January 20 for FREE! And hopefully I'll score a free dish! He asked if there should be any notations on the work order. I said yes, tell the driver to ignore the "road closed" sign. ;)

Friday---Dawns Sunny and Cold

Berkeley and I decided to walk to the road this morning after I spent a bit of time looking at condominiums in Olympia and Seattle. Wow, pricey. And then who would buy this little piece of heaven? No one could get up here to see it let alone move furniture in. And with the market so bad...so I looked at four-wheelers instead. Not that I object to the occasional trek up the hill, but it would be nice for hauling groceries and maybe my little propane tank. If I wait six years, I can move into Jubliee in Lacey. :)

My friend Ken just called from Spokane to see what was going on. Since misery does love company, I asked him how they were holding up with all the snow. He said it's all gone; sunny and clear is the weather today. I guess he didn't get the memo about misery loving company. He could have lied.

These were all taken from the house the road. It is pretty here. But it's so dang remote...even on a good day. It's kind of spooky now with no cars on the road.

I woke up grateful that the Findley's and I hadn't become a duplex in the night.